Swan book promises crisis fighter's tell-all

Pilloried by the press and hounded by Joe Hockey, former treasurer Wayne Swan will finally tell his story, including how Labor came to power, how its run ended, and what it was like framing six federal budgets during the most trying economic conditions in 75 years.

Mr Swan, who remains in Parliament, has signed a book deal with publisher Allen & Unwin. With the working title Australian Treasurer, the book is due for release in the second half of 2014.

Among those least likely to welcome its release is the man to whom Mr Swan first reported as treasurer and then fell out spectacularly, Kevin Rudd. The two Queenslanders came to have a famously poisonous relationship.

Mr Swan is billing his book as a view from a ringside seat as the world lurched into the global financial crisis in 2008 and then into the European debt crisis.

Also writing books unlikely to fit the Rudd-friendly interpretation of history are former prime minister Julia Gillard and former minister Peter Garrett.